Eclectic Lotus

 This past week with birthday planning, nature walks and homeschool have been a lot but great to reflect on it all. The Boy Birthday This has to be one of the times where I actually used Pinterest for planning This was not my son's birthday set up. I pulled up pictures of cakes to get one close. While contacting bakeries, they ranged from $50-$150 Well, here are the pictures that we came out with. So, if you have not guessed, my son is very much into space. He has been very specific that he wanted to be an astronaut for Halloween. Since there is a possibility that there will be no trick or treat, let's get him dressed up for his birthday as an astronaut. We all wore NASA shirts and had balloons that had the infamous symbol on them: Boy Astronaut Costume Birthday candles Set up package  (I had so much stuff. I did not use the solar system hanging decorations due to the ceiling being really high in our place. The cupcake sticks were not used either.) NASA balloons Another balloo...

 To go from homeschooling my oldest to putting him into school, remotely, this meme is a bit of an understatement. All the preparation was not for naught. So, here it is- one month in and we are getting the hang of it. . .most days. Unlike the masses, I did not set up a whole station for him. He is in the kitchen with the whole kiddie table to himself. While he is there, it is space between him and his sister who is a bouncy 3-year-old. We began to get frustrated as I seemed to have to remind him where to go and what to do next. He seems to not listen to the teacher at times and after school, he seemed drained. Between breaks, he is outside and I have enforced the "schedule" on the kitchen dry erase board. The schedule gets changed twice a day in case I am in a meeting or busy with the girl. He is mostly on his own and some days are better than others. If he thinks the material is too easy, which happens a lot, I bring out some second or third-grade work for him to work on. O...

  "They're creepy and they're kooky, Mysteriously spooky, They're all together hooky. THE ADDAMS FAMILY" A true classic. In the 1960's and 1970's there became this genre of "dark comedy" that seemed to rile the senses and give us a laugh of things scary. The Addams Family was released in 1964 and shortly after, the Munsters and Bewitched. Dark Shadows was released in 1966. How we currently conceptualize monsters living among us can be traced to these early TV shows as we now have, "Vampirina" and "Monster High" which is for little kids and let us not forget about the more recent "monster" shows that have taken our hearts and minds for a ride such as "Supernatural", "Vampire Diaries", "Charmed", and "Lucifer" with many being those shows being the ones you want to hate and wondered when they would end, like "Sleepy Hollow" and the ones you wonder what happened to them s...

 Bone broth is the absolute BOMB! Before I had kids, I would sometimes boil bone for the marrow or put it in collard greens. I love the stuff! Most people in my fields ( yoga world and allied health world) would recommend bone broth for colds and joint health. The healing of bone broth is simply sublime! When I mention bone- it is any animal bone- chicken, beef, turkey, pork, lamb, etc. The list goes on and on. Also, I am listening to a seminar to uplift me a little, and since it is fall and they are talking about getting the flu shot in order to avoid a "double infection" this year. (Seriously, the lockdown occurred in March which was still flu season. Why are we acting like this is new?) Benefits of bone broth 1. Joint defense      One of the active ingredients is glucosamine, which if many of you know about the supplements that are in the joint health supplements. Why take the supplement this season when you can stock up on bone broth or make your own. (Will edit ...

 I am pretty sure exhausted is not the word. Drained? May be. If you are not mentally or physically or emotionally tired- I would love to trade places with you right about now. The only think I am not exhausted in currently is spiritually as the only thing I can do in darker times is pray. Just drop down on my knees and pray. I am not going to get into the whole thing because this will be a short post because I have a few more to complete- with recipes on them as I am not keeping up with this blog in connection with Instagram. (Do you know so many of these pictures are on Instagram? Oh yes! Told you I was upgrading.) From August 28th My advice? Check up on your crew! I don't care who you are- check on your people because not all is right and if it is you are in denial and that you can still talk to someone who is not holding it together. We all are affected, if you think so or not. We should all be exhausted. I see Facebook. Come together. Eclectic Lotus

  From "Summer Bridge" Books Currently, we are doing, "Summer School" where we are working from our "Summer Bridge" book while the toddler is doing a variety of books that I have recycled over the years from when I worked with the boy in preschool. Lucky me, I kept most of the wooden puzzles, flashcards, and games. She is not that interested in the cards so I may have to give them away while they are still in good condition. Now, if I did not mention that there are different systems for homeschooling your child. (Oh yes! There are!) 1. Montessori      This method of teaching that was founded by Italian educator, Maria Montessori, is also utilized in a homeschool fashion where some make a whole room inspired by teaching. This is more so the method that I used when my son was smaller- I let him lead on what he wanted to learn. He would do puzzles throughout most of the day. We would sing songs. We would dance. When he was ready, we would go over the language...

 Happy commiserating people! If you are like many people in the world, they are stating that 1 out of 3 people have some form of anxiety or depression due to the pandemic. I have, in my work from home venture, noticed more requests for anti-anxiety and antidepression medication has increased by about 40% roughly. (Please do not quote me on those numbers. This is a rough estimate.) Here is an article from the CDC on mental health and the pandemic: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/managing-stress-anxiety.html If you are like our home, it is not a pretty picture. The children are no longer listening and I am pretty sure they are plotting mutiny on me. So, a great way to combat anxiety and depression is music. Not because I have been known to dance to Celia Cruz in my kitchen while washing dishes and drinking a glass of pink lemonade but really it helps! How to deal with pandemic depression So, to sum up with what the above article discusses, here are some st...